Hydraulic door operator for wagons



. i. KUCHAR me: w3@

HYDRAULIC DOOR OPERATOR FOR WAGONS 55 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aprilz, 1954 .fem 222, i935. J. KUCHAR ZQFS HYDRAULIC DOOR OPERATOR FOR WCTONS Fild April 23, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 22, 1938 PATET OFFlCE HYDRAULIC DOR OPERATOR FOR WAGONS Joseph Kuchar, Chicago, Ill.,

assigner to Athey Truss Wheel Oo., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application April 23, 1934, Serial No. 721,877

12 Claims.

rlhis invention relates to hydraulic door operators for wagons and trailers, and particularly to operators for doors on a wagon adapted to be operated by pressure liquid supplied from a preceding `vehicle such as a tractor.

The invention is particularly adapted for use with wagons or trailers having bottom dump doors which open downwardly when released. In such wagons the load effects the opening of the doors when they are released and the door operator raises them to closing position after dumping.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved hydraulic door operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic door operator which permits the doors to open freely under the action of the load when released.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic door operator with means for returning the hydraulic motor toits initial door closing 0r operating position while the doors are closed and before the load is dumped.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appear from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevational View of a trailer embodying my invention, and a fragment of a tractor to which it is hitched;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View, on a considerably larger scale of the hydraulic cylinder employed in this embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational View of the trailer showing the mechanism whereby the doors are closed;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line llof Fig. 3 showing part Yof the door control mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a similar view, the elements being in a different operating position;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 6-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. l is an elevational View similar to Fig. l showing a further embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional View, similar to Fig. 2, of the hydraulic cylinder employed in this embodiment.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawings, the reference numeral l designates a wagon body supported on an arched axle Il, which in turn is supported at each end upon track laying wheels I2 of known construction. The bottom of the hopper-like body I0 is normally closed by a pair of doors I3. These doors I3 are hingedly mounted at their outer' edges upon the wagon and are adapted to meet on the center line of the wagon when they are closed. Each door I3 carries on its underside near its free edge a pair of pulleys I4, one pulley being located at the front end of the door, and the other at the rear end of the door. A cable I5 passes under the pulleys I4 and over a pulley I6 carried on the 1.0 front of the wagon body. The ends of the cable l5are secured to and wound upon a drum Il rotatably mounted in bearing brackets I8, mounted on a channel I9 which is rigidly secured to the rear wall of the wagon body. It will readily be underhe, stood from Fig. 3 that when the drum Il is wound up the tightening of the cable I5 closes the doors I3. The pulley I6 provides equalization between the eective lengths of the cable .and ensures complete closing of both doors irrespective of .20 variation in eiective lengths of cable due to irregular building up of the wound cable on the Vdrum Il and other causes.

The shaft 2li of the drum Il extends outwardly beyond one side of the wagon where it rigidly 25 carries a small drum 2l. The shaft 2li is supported in a suitable bearing 22 carried by the wagon adjacent the drum 2l. The other end of the drum shaft projects to a lesser extent beypnd the adjacent bearing bracket I8 and has 30 keyed thereon a ratchet Wheel 23. An operating handle 24 is provided for actuating the ratchet wheel 23 by hand. This handle has bifurcated ends 25 provided with elongated slots 2B. These bifurcated ends are located on either side of the 35 ratchet wheel 23 and the shaft of the drum Il extends through the slots 26. The inner end of the bifurcated arms is connected by a tooth 2l which is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 23, and suitably manipulated by hand. Normally the handle 24 hangs downwardly and the tooth 2l is out of contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 23. To turn the drum Il by means of the ratchet wheel 23, the handle 24 is raised to a horizontal position, the handle is moved toward the ratchet wheel so as to cause the tooth 21 to engage they ratchet teeth. A downward force exerted on the handle 24 will cause rotation of the drum I1 in appropriate direction to close the doors I3. 50

A suitable pawl 28 is provided for maintaining the doors closed until it is desired to open them. This pawl and associated mechanism will hereinafter be more fully described. The handle 24 provides a manual means for closing the doors I3, this manual means enabling the doors to be closed in the absence of a tractor or in the event of the power door operator breaking down.

The pawl Z8 is pivotally mounted in a frame 29. The frame 29 is pivotally mounted at 30v on the channel 9. The frame 29 is provided with a downwardly extending handle 3| whereby it may be swung upwardly, in counter-clockwise direc-- tion by the pivot 30, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5. The result of such swinging is to elevate the pivotal support of the pawl 28 with the result that the weight of the doors and the load acting through the cable I5 on the drum I1, causes this drum and the ratchet wheel 23 to rotate carrying the ends of the pawl 28 with it into the position shown in Fig. 5. After the pawl 28 is moved to the position shown in this yfigure, the drum I1 is free to rotate to allow the doors to open to their full extent. The open doors are indicated in dotted lines on Fig. 3. The pawl 28 is balanced so that it is easily returned to its operating position by handle 3| or rope 4I and must be returned prior to winding up drum I1 by handle 24 or by power means which will hereinafter be described.

The frame 29 is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 4 by means of a spring 32 which abuts against a pin 33 and against a washer 34 which abuts against nuts 35 threaded on the end of a rod 36. The rod 36 isnpivoted at 31 to the channel I9 and the frame 29 is provided with an opening 38 which accommodates the spring 32, the rod 36 and, in the position of the parts illustrated in Fig. 5, the washer 34 and nuts 35. The rod 36 passes through an opening in the pin133 and this pin projects laterally on each side into slots 39 formed in the frame 29 on each side of the opening 38.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the pawl 28 may be elevated to release the load by suitable actuation of the handle 3|. It is preferable to provide means whereby the frame 29 can also be elevated from a remote point, for example from the seat of the tractor 46 shown in the right-,hand side of Fig. 1. Such means may comprise a rope 4| which extends from the tractor to the trailer, where it is attached to a lever 42. The lever 42 is rigidly carried on a shaft 43, which also carries rigidly a short arm 44 located at one sidev of the wagon, forY example, the far side of the wagon, as viewed in Fig. 1. The arm 44 is connected by a rod or rope 45 which may suitably be guided in openings in the struts 46 on that side of the wagon. At the end of the wagon on'which is mounted the drum I1, the rod or rope 45 is secured to an arm 41 rigidly mounted on a rod 48. The rod 48 is provided with a bearing'in a bracket 49 mounted on the wagon, and the end remote from this bracket is supported on a bracket 50 carried by the channel I9.

Adjacent the bracket 50 the rod 48 has rigidly mounted thereon an arm 5| which is connected by a link 52 to the frame 29. It will readily be understood that when the rope 4I is pulled forwardly, the frame 29 is elevated, carrying with it the pawl 28, so that the drum I1 is released with the result that the load is dumped.

The drum 2l previously referred to has secured thereto a cable, chain or other suitable flexible member53 which is adapted to be wound on the drum 2| when the drum I1 is rotated owing to the downward movement of the doors under the action of the load. The flexible member 53 is secured to the rear end of a piston rod 54. The piston rod 54 carries a piston 55 which is located within a hydraulic cylinder 56 mounted on the adjacent side of the wagon body II] and extending in the longitudinal direction thereof. The rearmost end of the cylinder 56 is connected by a fiexible tube 51, pipes 58 on the wagon, and ilexible hose 59 between the wagon and tractor 46, to a hydraulic pump 60 mounted on the tractor 46 and adapted to be actuated by the engine thereof. The pump 69 need not be described in detail since it may be any of a number of pumps known in the art. It is preferably substantially the same as the pump described and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 609,603 led May 6, 1932 and issued Oct. 22, 1935 as Patent No. 2,018,269. This pump is controlled by a hand lever 6| which has five controlling positions, indicated a, b, c, d, and e on Fig. 1. In the position indicated in'full lines in Fig. l, that is position a, the pump 69 is unclutched from the engine and is not operating and free passage is provided for f the return of uid from the cylinder 56 to the hydraulic fluid reservoir 62.

In the position b of the hand lever 6|, the pump 69 is clutched to the engine and the pump is still by-passed. -When the hand lever 6| is moved 1 to position c, pressure uid is delivered to the hose 59, from whence it passes into the rear end of-cylinder 56. The pawl 28 is returned to its operating position by handle 3| or by rope 4I. By supplying pressure fluid to the rear end of the cylinder 56 the piston 55 is forced forwardly with the result that, if the doors are open, the flexible member 53 is drawn forwardly rotating the drum 2|, and thereby the drum I 1. The final result is that'the doors I3 are closed and will remain closed until pawl 28 is again released for dumping the load or the contents of the body. TheV pump 6,0 is preferably provided with an automatic by-pass so that when the piston 55 is moved to its extreme position, the pump will automatically bypass fluid thereby avoiding building up of eX- tremely high pressure. When the hand lever 6| is returned to position'b or a, the doors are/left supported by the pawl 28 and the cylinder 56 is put into free communication with the reservoir 62.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the piston 55 carries a rearwardly extending open housing 64 which receives the forward end of a coil spring 65. The coil spring 65 engages a boss 56 on the front end of the cylinder. When pressure fluid is supplied to the rearward end of the cylinder 55, the piston 55 is moved to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, and the spring 65 is compressed. The compressed spring 65 is located within the housingr64. It will be readily understood that when the hand lever 6| is returned to position?) or a the spring 65 will expand, forcing the piston 55 rearwardly and displacing the fluid therefrom, which fluid is returned by the pipe connections previously mentioned, to the reservoir 62. The result Yof this return movement of the piston 55 by the spring 65 is that the flexible member 53 has slackened to the maximum extent and is left free for winding up upon the drum 2|. Thus it will lbe understood that owing to the action of the spring 65, the doors I3 are free to open immediately the pawl 28 is released and are not impeded or slowed up by any dashpot effect which would be incurred if the rearward movement of the piston 55 were executed while the doors I3 were falling open. In other words, if the piston 55 had not previously been moved rearwardly, the opening of the doors I3 would move the piston 55 rearwardly and would displace the fluid in the cylinder 56 through the pipe connections to the reservoir 62 while the doors were opening. The resistance of the fluid to rapid movement would create a dashpot or delaying effect which would impair the utility of the Wagon With sticky loads, such as clay or certain other loads, such as frozen dirt. Such loads require, for eflicient operation of automatically opening doors of this type, doors which are able to open immediately they are released.

'I'he embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is substantially similar to thatwhich has just been described. Consequently the same reference numerals are employed to indicate those parts which are identical in operation and function. The distinctive feature of this modification resides in the fact that no spring 65 is employed, but the piston is returned to initial position before the opening Vof the doors by pressure fluid provided by the pump 60. Owing to the absence of the housing 64 and the spring 65, the cylinder 56 may be made Vsubstantially shorter. In addition to the pipe connections 5l, 58, and 59 connecting the rear end of the cylinder 5B to one delivery outlet of the pump 65, I provide additional conduits E6, 61, and 68 connecting the forward end of the cylinder 55 to an outlet of the pump 60. When the actuating lever 6 is moved to position c, as shown in Fig. 7, pressure uid is supplied to the rear end of the cylinder 56 for the purpose of closing the doors I3 as before. When the actuating hand lever El is moved to position d the fluid is enclosed in the rear end of the cylinder 56, the piston 55 being located in the forward end of this cylinder. When the actuating lever 6| is moved to the extreme position e, pressure fluid is supplied through conduits 68, 51, and 66 tothe forward end of the cylinder 56 with the result that the piston 55 is moved to its extreme rear position in the same manner as it was moved to this position by the spring 65 in the embodiment of the invention rst described. The co-ntrol lever 5l is now moved quickly to its initial position a, the pump Sil is rendered inoperative and the flexible member 53 is elevated in slack condition so that the opening of the doors when they are released, occurs Without any delay or dashpot effect owing to the employment of pressure iiuid for closing the doors.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with the specific details of preferred embodiments thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a wagon, in combination, doors adapted to open and close, liquid operated means adapted to actuate the doors in one direction, said doors being operated in the opposite direction by gravity, actuating mechanism for moving said liquid operated means to its initial actuating position independent of movement of the doors, latch means for holding said doors against operation by gravity when the liquid operated means is in said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

2. In a wagon, in combination, doors adapted to open under the action of gravity, liquid operated means connected to said doors to close them, means operative independent of the door opening for actuating said liquid operated means into initial door-closing position, latch means for holding said doors closed when the liquid operated means is in said initial position, and means to release Vsaid latch means.

3. In a Wagon, in combination, doors adapted to open under the action of gravity, a cylinder on said wagon, a piston therein, means for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to cause said piston to close the doors, means independent of the .door opening for moving said piston towards said end of said cylinder after the doors are closed, latch means for holding the doors closed when said piston is thus moved, and means to release said latch means.

4. In a wago-n, in combination, bottom doors adapted to be opened by their weight and the weight of the load, a liquid operated cylinder on said wagon, a piston therein, iiexible means operatively connecting said piston to said doors, means for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to Cause said piston to close the doors, a spring for moving said piston back to its initial door-closing position when the pressure of the liquid is decreased, latch means for holdving said doors closed when the piston is returned to said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

5. In a wagon, in combination, bottom doors adapted to be opened by their Weight and the Weight of the lo-ad, a liquid operated cylinder on said wagon, a piston therein, flexible means operatively connecting said piston to said doors, means for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to cause said piston to close the doors, a spring within the cylinder for moving said piston back to its initial door-closing position when the pressure of the liquid is decreased, latch means for holding said doors closed when the piston is returned to said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

6. In a wagon, in combination, bottom doors adapted to be opened by their weight and the weight of the load, a liquid operated cylinder on said wagon, a piston therein, flexible means operatively connecting said piston to said doors, latching means independent of the door closing mechanism for holding the doors closed, means independent of the door closing mechanism for unlatching said latching means, means for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to cause said piston to close the doors, and means for supplying pressure iiuid to the other end of the cylinder to move said piston back to its initial door-closing position, whereby the doors may fall open when unlatched without retarding dashpot effect of said pistons.

7. In a wagon, in combination, doors adapted to open and close, liquid-operated means adapted to' actuate the `doors in one direction, said doors being operated in the opposite direction by gravity, actuating means for moving said liquid-operated means to its initial actuating position independent of movement of the doors, a valve adapted in one position to supply pressure liquid to said liquid-operated means and in another position to provide an outlet for the liquid thus supplied, latch means for holding said doors against operation by gravity when the liquid operated means is in said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

8. In a wagon, in combination, doors adapted to open under the action of gravity, liquid-operated means connected to said doors to close them, means operative independent of the door opening for actuating said liquid-operated means into initial door closing position, a valve adapted in lil one position to supply pressure liquid to said liquid-operated means, and in another position to connect said liquid-operated means to a sump, latch means for holding said doors closed when liquid operated means is in said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

9., In a Wagon, in combination, doors adapted to open under the action of gravity, a cylinder .on said wagon, a piston therein, a valve having latch means.

l0. In a wagon, in combination, bottom doors.

adapted to be opened by their weight land the Weight of a load, a liquid-operated cylinder on said wagon, a piston therein, flexible means operatively connecting said piston to saiddoors, a valve having one position for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to cause said piston `to close the doors and in an,- other position to connect said end of said cylinder to a reservoir, a spring for moving said piston back to its initial door-closing position when the pressure of the liquid is decreased by moving the valve to said second position, latch means for holding the doors closed when the piston is in said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

11. 1n a wagon, in combination, bottom doors adapted to be opened by their Weight and the YWeight of a load, a liquid-operated cylinder on said wagon, a piston therein, flexible means operatively connecting said piston to said doors, a valve having one position for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to cause said piston to close the doors and in another position to connect said end of said cylinder to a reservoir, a spring within the cylinder for moving said piston back to its initial doorclosing position when the pressure of, the liquid is decreased by moving the valve to said second' position, a latch for holding the doors closed When theA piston is in said initial position, and means to release said latch means.

l2. In a wagon, in combination, bottom doors adapted to be opened by their VWeight and the Weight of a load, a liquid-operated cylinder on said Wagon, a piston therein, eXible means operatively connecting said piston to said doors, latching means independent of the door-closing mechanism for holding the doors closed, means independent of the door-closing mechanism for unlatching said latching means, a valve having one position for supplying liquid under pressure to one end of said cylinder to cause said piston to close the doors and in another position to connect said end. of -saidvcylinder to a reservoir, and means for supplying pressure fluid to the other end of the cylinder to move said piston back to its initial door-closing position, whereby the doors may fall open when unlatched Without retarding dashpot effect of said piston.

JOSEPH KUCHAR. 

